Pervin Buldan, Co-Chair of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), spoke at her party's 4th Ordinary Congress. Applauded for a long time, Buldan greeted tens of thousands of people in Kurdish and Turkish. Buldan, who continued the greeting naming the politicians in prison, said: "I salut Selahattin Demirtaş, even though he is in prison, he is with us here. I am sending my love to all my comrades, to Figen Yüksekdağ, Sebahat Tuncel, Abdullah Zeydan, Selma Irmak, İdris Baluken, Aysel Tuğluk, Gülser Yıldırım, Çağlar Demirel, Gültan Kışanak, Nurhayat Altun, Selçuk Mızraklı, Bekir Kaya and all of whom I didn't name here. I salut Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, the great veteran of HDP. I commemorate all the great values we have lost in the struggle of democracy with great respect and gratitude. I respect their memories."

 

The government stopped the peace process because they are afraid of the will for solution and peace. Instead of dialogue with the peoples, they formed an alliance with ISIS, the JITEM of the Middle East, with gangs and oppressive states. They transformed this land, where we can live with peace, into the geography of death. They made our people pay heavy prices. They invaded Efrin to prevent the peace in Syria and the represantation of the Kurds in democratic Syria. They plundered everywhere.  While entering the Syrian territory with tanks, they usurped our hard earned municipalities with trustees. They usurped 38 of our municipalities. They adopted political theft as their own way. They told us the Kurds can not elect or be elected. But whatever they did, the Kurds will elect and administrate their own cities. Not only the cities, we will rule this country and we are on our way. Our people did not kneel down in the gallows, did not submit to massacres and dungeons. And from now on, we will never kneel down."

 

We are the ones who walk the path of those who love enough to die for the sake of life. We will struggle with this consciousness. Wherever there is a person oppressed and marginalized, we will be there. Wherever the right of a worker is violated we will be there. We will be their voice. We will reach everywhere. We will hold everyone's hand. From Aegean to the Black Sea, from Central Anatolia to the Mediterranean. We will turn the courage of HDP into the courage of millions. Dear youth who said we started young and we will succeed young. Dear women who will bring the spring of democracy. Our dear people, the veterans of the struggle of freedom. We will achieve the change together. We will create a world that nobody goes to sleep hungry, nobody is left unemployed, nobody committing suicide out of starvation, a world that women are not being slaughtered, nobody getting arrested for their opinions, a world where mothers are not crying holding on to the gravestones of their children. We will create a just and free country, a democratic Turkey together!"

 

We will win together. Democracy will win. Peace will win. With these wishes and hopes, I wish our congress to be instrumental in peace, freedom and democracy, and I wish our new management outstanding success. I would like to thank all our central administrators, all provincial and district administrators, who embraced our party for the past 2 years, paves the way for democracy and peace and waved the flag of struggle with determination. I greet you all on behalf of my party, serkeftin ya me ye. I greet you all with respect, godspeed!

 

The congress continues with the statements and reading of the messages that were sent.